Awning



C. F'. FOGH Jan. 26, 1932.

AWNING 5' Sheets-Sheet Filed Sept. 19 1930 INVENTOR. 6, A P06 6 BY a y f /1TTONEY,

Jan. 26, 1932. Q P FOGH 1,842,598

AWNING Filed Sept. 19, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 1 ":1" U I I :..;.5.

INVENTOR. 6, fi 06/7 A TTORNEY.

Jan. 26, 1932. Q P, FQGH 1,842,598

AWNING Filed Sept 19, 1950 3 Shets-Sheet 3 4 INVENTOR. 6. Fae/1 BY g, 5m

A TTORNEY.

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Patented Jan. 26, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHRISTIAN 1?. EDGE, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA AWNING Application filed September 19, 1930. Serial No. 482,982.

is effectedautomatically as soon as the latter tended positions.

released for extension whereby the undeawning-section on the inside, the awning being in retracted position.

Figures l and 5 are end views ofthe improved supporting means for the side awning-sections, the views being respectively as illustrative of the parts in retracted and 6X- Figures 6, 7, and 8 are perspective views of sir-able unwinding of the awning from the the outer end portion of a side awning-section awning-roller without a corresponding exequipped with an end piece, the views showtension movement of the awning during the ing the parts in extended, intermediate, and initialextension operation, will be eliminated. retracted positions.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for accomplishing the aforementioned object, which will also insure the proper rewind of the awning and the absence of any shock or jar when the awning ap proaches and reaches its retracted position.

A further object of the invention is to proride in the space between awnings on adj oining sides ofa building, a connecting or corner awning-section which will be extended or re tracted with the first mentioned awnings and provide therewith a substantially single and continuous awning unit of uniform length, appearance, and protective characteristics.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the It is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawings and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the awning of my invention as applied to a building and disposed in extended relation, and illustrating the manner in which the awning forms a practically continuous unit along adjoining sides and included corner of the specification.

building.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, ex-

Figure 9 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the frame connections, showing a modified form of the means for effecting a partial extension of the awning.

As illustrated in the drawings, my invention is embodied in what is commonly termed a corner installation, that is, an awning unit comprising sections on adjoining sides of a building and an intermediate section for the corner or space between the side sections. In arrying out my invention 1 provide an in stallation wherein the corner section will afford the same protective features as the side sections and at the same time furl and unfurl with said latter sections whereby on exten sion of the side sections the corner section will likewise be extended, and on retraction all the cloth portions of the corner section, as well as that of the side sections, will be completely rolled up and out of the way. As shown in the drawings there is arranged on each of the adjoining sides 2 and 3 of a build ing, awning side-sections a and 5 respectively, each comprising a cover portion 6, preferably of cloth such as canvas, arranged to be attached to and wound upon a hollow roller 7, the latter being suitably secured to the building for rotation and provided with a spring to cause the canvas to be wound thereon or unwound therefrom in the well known manner. Preferably the usual crank-operated roller-turning means is used in conjunction with the roller-spring for effecting the desired rotation of the roller and for retaining the canvas in a retracted or fully or partly cept that the awning is shown in retracted extended position. The outer or free end of the canvas is attached to a cross bar 8 to position.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the corner which are fixed arms 9, and the latter are connected to the building by means of guide links 12 and guide rods 13, the arms being slidably connected to the rods by means of sleeves 14 which are pivotally secured to the arms. It will be evident that when the canvas is retracted, the arms and links, as shown in Figure 4, move to a substantially vertical position against the wall while the sleeves 1% move downwardly on the rods 13; and conversely when the canvas is extended the sleeves 14 are raised whereby the arms and links assume an angular position such as inclicated in Figure 5. The bar 8, arms 9, etc., which form the awning frame and support are of ordinary construction and are of well known design.

Pivoted to the building at the juncture of the sides for movement about a horizontal axis substantially common to the axis of rotation of the rollers is a supporting member 16 which swings preferably in a plane bisecting the angle defined by the sides. The member 16 is arranged to be moved to an extended or operative position, such as shown in Figure 1, or retracted to a vertical or inoperative position against the building. Movement of the member may be efiected in any desired manner and as here shown the member is arranged to be retained in its extended position by means of a link 17, one end of which is pivoted to the memberwhile the other end is slidably connected to a vertical guide bar 18 fixed to the building. Carried by the member 16 is a pair of closely positioned rollers 21 and 22 which are disposed and arranged for rotation longitudinally of the member 16. Each roller has attached thereto a canvas or like portion 23 which may be wound on or unwound from the roller, the rollers being preferably self-winding similar to rollers 7, so that the canvas portions may be unwound from or rewound on the rollers by the drawing or releasing action in the well known manner.

It will be understood that the awning portions 23 are adapted to serve as the corner section of the complete awning unit, that is, said sections are arranged in the operative or extended portion of the unit to function as a cover or filler for the spacebetween the portions 6 of the side sections 4 and 5. Means are therefore provided for causing the portions 23 to be drawn in opposite directions toward the adjacent side edges of the portions 6. In the present embodiment the unfurling and refurling of a portion 23 is effected with the corresponding action of the associated portion 6. Secured respectively to the inner and outer ends of the free edge of each portion 23, are pulley lines 24 and 25, the line 24 being made fast to the cross bar 8 after passing over a pulley 27 fixed to the building, while the line 25 is made fast to the building after passing over a pulley 28 fixed to the bar 8, It will be noted that in order to provide for awning protection at the corner section in a manner comparable with that afforded at the side sections, the width of the portions 23 should be substantially equal to the extension of the portions 6, and that accordingly the area to be covered by each of the sections 23 is practically of the form of a trapezium, particularlyso since the inner side edges of the portions 6 are spaced somewhat back of the juncture of the building sides. The portions 23 are therefore of trapezium form, or at least the part thereof that is to be extended, and as a consequence, as will be readily evident, the part of the canvas 23 nearer the outer edge of the awning, will have to be moved a greater distance than the part nearer the inner edge of the awning, To take care of this, I preferably make theline 24- long enough so that part thereof is arranged to be wound on or off the roller while the canvas portion connected to the line 25 is being actually rewound on or unwound from the roller. In addition to the lengthening of the line 24, I insure the proper rewinding of the portions 23 by securing the inner upper end of each of said portions to a sleeve 29 which is rotatably disposed and longitudinally slidable on the end of the corner rollers. By this arrangement, which is covered in a copending application, Serial Number 355,504 filed by me April 16, 1929, the narrow portion of the canvas near the corner end of the roller will. not commence to wind up on the roller until after the wider portion of the canvas has'made several turns on the roller. It will now be clear thatthe associated side and corner sections will be extended or retracted by one operation and that when the sections are extended the protection afi'orded and the appearance presented by the sections will be comparable to that of a uniform continuous strip extending from one side of the building to the other. The foregoing is enhanced by the fact that the portions 23 are made long enough so that the free edge thereof underlies the side edge of the portion 6 when the awning is extended. Furthermore the supporting member 16 is formed to provide a'hood 27 which serves to effectively conceal the rollers and to cover the space between them in the operative position of the awning.

In operating the awning of thepresent embodiment, with the awning entirely in inop= erative position, the first operation in extending the awning is to raise the supporting member 16 to its fully elevated position as indicated in Fi ure 1. Each or both of the side sections are then operated whereby the canvas portions 6 and 23 are extended to the amount desired. To now return the awning to inoperative position, the portions 6 and 23 are first permitted to retract under the pull of the roller springs, and after bothsets of canvas portions are fully rewound on the respective rollers, the supporting member is swung downwardly so as to rest vertically along the corner of the building in an inconspicuous manner, as illustrated in Figure 2.

It will be readily understood that since the side awning sections, through the interconnection of the pulleys 24 and 25, assist in the retraction of the corner awning-portions and are subject to the pull of the roller springs thereof, an increased burden is placed on the springs of the side rollers in effecting retraction of the awnings. For this reason it is necessary to provide a comparatively powerful spring for said rollers. It has been found, however, with such springs. that when the awning portions approach the final retractive position, the pull on saidportions is so great as to causethe refractive movement to finish with a jar. I have overcome the difficulty, however, in a simple and effective manner by providing a spring which is arranged to be compressed, or otherwise set at a tension during the final stages of the retractive movement, thereby not only cushioning such move ment, but affording a feature of considerable importance, to wit providing a means of starting the extension movement of the awning when desired. As here shown, and particularly in Figures 4: and 5, I provide on each arm 9 a spring 31 which is fixed to the arm near the connection with the guide rods 13 and arranged as the arm assumes its vertical position to bear against the cooperating link 12 and be placed under tension. It will be understood that some means should be provided for retaining the awning sections in retracted position, that is, against the action of the springs 31. Ordinarily the usual crank macrated roller controllin means liereinbefore referred to. will serve the purpose. that is, by locking or otherwise retaining said means against operation when the awning sections are fully retracted. Assunr ing now that the awning is in inoperative but released position, the awning portions will move outward as far as the springs 31 will force them. With the portions thus extended, the weight of the extended parts will be sufficient to assist and bring about the further extension as the awning portions are unwound from the rollers. it will thus be seen that by the use of the springs 31, not only will the cushioning aforesaid be effected, but

the undesirable and even dangerous condi- (therefore the unwound portions of the canvas will be held taut and the smooth and compactrewinding will be assured.

As particularly shown in Figures 6, 7 and 8, tov complete the unit described, I provide a wing or end piece 82 at the outer side edge of the awning sections 4 and 5. This wing 32 is roughly of triangular form so as to cover the space between the said edge of the awning sections and the building when the awning is extended. The wing is preferably mounted on a springroller 33 supported vertically against the building, the upper part of the wing being attached directly to the roller while the lower part is secured to a sleeve sawhich is rotatable and longitudinah ly slidable on the roller in a manner similar to that described in connection with the corner rollers. This arrangement also is quite similar to that found in my copending appli cation aforesaid, with the main exception that while the upper part of thewing is secured to the cross bar 8 by a pulley and line connection 36, the lower outer end of the wing is attached directly to such bar. rangement makes a more simple and positive connect-ion between the sections and wings for providing the desired end coverage and effecting the furling and unfurling of the member together 'In Figure 9 l have shown a somewhat modified form of the means for effecting the partial extension of the awning. As here shown 1 provide a torsion spring 37 which encircles the pivot between the arm 9 and the sleeve 14. One end of the spring is fixed to the arm and the other end to the sleeve so that when the arm is in or near its vertical position the spring will be set at a tension and urge the frame to partial extension as aforesaid.

I claim:

1. In an awning, a roller journalled in a relatively fixed support, a flexible sheet covering arranged to be wound on or off said roller, an awningframe pivotally secured in position below said roller and attached to said covering for supporting same in an extended position when unwound from the roller, spring means urging said frame from a retracted to a partially extended position and arranged to be inoperative during the remainder of the extension of the awning, and means to move said frame and hold same retracted against the action of said first means.

2. In an awning, a flexible sheet covering, a roller on which and from which said covering is arranged-to be wound and having a spring urging rotation of the rollerto wind said covering thereon,an awning-frame pivotedto said support below the roller and secured to said covering to support same in extended relation when unwound from the roller, spring means arranged to holdthe frame This arand covering in partially extended position against the resistance of the roller spring, said spring means arranged to be inoperable during the extension of the awning from a partially to a fully extended position, and means independent of said roller spring for holding said frame retracted against the resistance of said spring means.

3. Inan awning, a horizontal roller journalled in a relatively fixed support, a flexible sheet covering arranged to be wound on or off said roller, an awning-frame attached to said covering for supporting same in an extended position and comprising a yoke arranged to lie in vertical inward position when the covering is in fully retracted position and including arms pivotally and slidably connected directly below said roller to a relatively fixed support, a spring only operative upon the frame being near or in retracted position to urge the yoke and covering outwardly, and means to move and hold said yoke inwardly against the resistance of said sprin 4t. In an awning for the corner of a building, comprising a roller pivotally supported at one end to said corner whereby it may be swung upwardly in the plane of the bisector of the corner angle from a vertical position against the building to an outward position in extended relation to the building, a means to releasably hold the roller in said latter position, a flexible covering arranged to be wound on or ofi said roller with one edge in substantially parallel relation to one side of said building, and means to unwind said covering when the roller is in extended position.

5. In an awning for the side and corner of a building, comprising a side section including a roller journalled on the sideof the building, and a covering arranged to be wound on or olf the roller; a corner section including a roller connected to the building whereby it may swing upwardly in the plane of the bisector of the corner angle from retracted to extended position, means to releasably hold the roller in extended position, a covering arranged to be wound on or off said roller, and a spring associated with the roller to wind the covering thereon; and connecting means between the side and corner coverings whereby the latter will be extended from its roller or retracted thereon by and upon corresponding operation of the side covering.

6. In an awning for the side and corner of a building, comprising a side section including a horizontally mounted roller supported on the side of the-building, a covering arranged to be wound on or off said roller, a frame pivotally secured to the building at the side and arranged to support the covering in extended relation to the wallwhen' unwound from the roller, a spring operated may swing upwardly in the plane of the bisector of the corner angle from a vertical retracted position against the building to an angular. extended position outwardly from the building, means to support said roller in the latter position, a covering wound on the roller by the spring operation thereof, and means connecting the corner covering to the building and side frame whereby both coverings may be simultaneously extended from orarewound on the respectlve rollers and said corner covering will be drawn to and in. substantially coplanar relation with said side covering when'both are extended.

7 In an awning for the side and corner of a building, aside awning arranged to be extended at a predetermined angle from the building, a roller connected to the building for movement in the plane of the bisector of the'corner angle and arranged in operative position to extend from the building at substantially the same angle as' the side awning, and a corner awning on said roller'extendable to and substantially in the plane of the extended side awning. V a

8. In an awning for the adjacent sides and included corner of a building, side awning sections comprising horizontally disposed rollers journalled in fixed, bearings at the sides of the building, coverings arranged to be wound on and off the rollers, frames pivoted to the sides of the building for holding the coverings in extended position, a pair of parallel rollers movable as whole in the plane of the bisector of the corner angle and arranged in operative position to extend from the building at substantially the same angle as the side awnings, coverings on said rollers extendable to and substantially in the plane of the adjacent side awnings, and a hood for said corner rollers covering same and the space therebetween.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Oakland, California, this 27th day of August, 1930.

' CHRISTIAN P. FOGI-I.

roller connected to the building whereby it 

